My Social Media-less Life

If you’re a fan of American football (or you at least keep up on what’s going on in the country) you’ll know that the NFL Draft kicked off yesterday here in Kansas City, Missouri.

Earlier in the month while they were still announcing the guests and everything like that, my roommate and I had talked about going, but decided there were going to be a lot of people there and it would make for a long night, no matter which night we went.

And then there was a plot twist.

Tuesday afternoon I was scrolling through a news app and saw a story about the setup at Union Station and decided, “you know what? I’m gonna make it happen.”

So I texted the friend I knew would be going and told her and we tentatively started making a plan to go together. When I was telling my roommate about this later that evening she said, “If you’re asking me if I want to go with, the answer is yes.”

Officially, that wasn’t what I was doing but I wasn’t mad she wanted to come.

So we made other plans with another friend of mine who has an apartment and her own parking spot and works most evenings anyway so we could use her spot and then my roommate and I would meet up with the friend who was always going to go anyway.

As with any NFL event, we could only take in certain items and they had to be a certain type of way and whatever. Plus we need the QR code to get in. So when my roommate and I got to the parking spot courtesy of my downtown friend, I took out of my purse my ID, one card to pay for something if necessary, and grabbed my water bottle out of the front seat.

We were half a block away when I realized I didn’t have my phone and wasn’t completely sure I’d locked the car.

Half a block.

We weren’t even that far away, but I thought, eh I don’t need my phone anyway. What would I use it for, pictures? We were meeting up with the friend outside of the event and then going in together. And if someone wanted to take stuff out of the car, almost all of it is replaceable.

So we get to the street car a few blocks away and take it as far down Main Street as it will go and then hike for about half an hour and meet up with the other friend waiting for us. It was during this hike that I remembered I did need my phone because we’re supposed to have the QR code to get into the event.

So of course I go back after dropping off my roommate with the friend.

Which is half an hour to the street car, about 10-15 minutes on the street car, another 10 minutes to the parking garage, and then reverse those directions on the way back.

And during the return trip, I had to use the facilities and since I had the ability to get into “downtown friend’s” apartment, I went in and made use of them. (I let her know of course)

Come to find out, I did also in fact forget to lock my car.

So by the time I got to the World War I Memorial where the main entrance to the who draft experience is— instead of being 7pm when we first met up with the friend— it was now 8:30 and I had no idea where my friends were. AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF, I didn’t even need the QR code to get in.

By the time my roommate found me, the other friend had already left the area because she needed to be somewhere she could sit. So I spent 45 minutes at the NFL Draft last night just to take a few pictures and leave.

That wasn’t even the fun part!
(My mom gave me the side-eyes emoji like she didn’t believe me when I told her this next part, but I promise it was well worth the drama for this part)

Because I did most of that traveling by myself, I was far more aware of my surroundings than usual. Especially because I didn’t have my phone and wasn’t about to get kidnapped in my own city.

What I noticed was a lady who probably doesn’t remember me, but I remember her from the very first time my roommate and I took the streetcar for fun back in January 2020. We had a nice little chat about how excited we were about the draft going on and just regular everyday stuff. (I didn’t tell her I remember her… that’s weird to some people)

And I noticed how friendly and accommodating native Kansas Citians were to anyone who had a different jersey on (since most of KC was wearing Chiefs jerseys). Multiple times on my trips, people were giving out directions to a restaurant or a bar that they loved nearby.

On our way out, there was one group that was so excited about telling someone where to go, they kept shouting suggestions at them as they walked away. That was a bit much, but that’s when it hit me that Kansas City was trying to show off their city and it brought a little hope into my view of the people and how great this city really is and can be.

Sometimes I get so caught up in the politics of the city that I forget to actually see the people. There was one point where I even thought someone brought up the mayor because they were going to bring up something about his politics.

Nope, they just wanted to talk about how nice of a person people have said he is.

That was the most unexpected thing. The other big unexpected thing was that I didn’t see one person who was mad there were so many people in one place at one time. Not even when we were packed in like sardines on the street car. Twice.

So why is this post titled Birthday Weekend Kick-off? Because I also went and got a massage yesterday and that was supposed to be the beginning of my birthday weekend. After walking for 2 hours, I kind of wish I’d had the massage today, but… it was helpful one way or the other. 🙂

In closing…

Regardless of where you live or if you agree with the politics or the sports or the whatever of your town… always be kind. You really never know who’s watching and sometimes the watchers are just as impacted as those you’re trying to be kind to. 😉

Have a great weekend, everyone! I know I will!